SOAP Header Element Question

The SOAP header is defined as "a collection of zero or more SOAP header
blocks".  And it is an optional element in the SOAP envelope.  My question
is, is there any difference between not having a SOAP header, and having a
SOAP header with zero header blocks (and no attributes on the header
element)?  In other words, are receivers permitted to respond differently to
two such messages?  It seems to me that the answer should be "no", and that
the specification should say so; I can't find anywhere that it does.

This is admittedly a minor point.  SOAP messages with zero header blocks are
probably going to be quite rare.  And it would certainly be a design mistake
to make such a distinction, either in published semantics for a message or
in actual implementation of a receiver: it closes off possibilities for
later enhancement.  However, I still think the specification should be
explicit on this point.

I would appreciate it if someone on the committee would email me a response
on this; I'm not on this mailing list (and don't have sufficient interest in
the topic to want to be), and I may or may not eventually check in the
archives to see if anyone has responded.

Frank Adams-Watters   DataStructures
Frank.Adams.Watters@DataStructures.com
1300 Iroquois Dr., Ste 250   Naperville, IL  60563
Land of the free ... home of the brave.

Received on Wednesday, 6 November 2002 04:15:58 UTC